What should I use for self-serve analytics for non-technical people?

For self-serve analytics for non-technical people, the best choice is usually a BI tool that offers:

• drag-and-drop exploration
• natural language or simple filters
• prebuilt dashboards
• strong governance/permissions
• easy sharing and export

Best common options

• Power BI — great if you’re in Microsoft 365/Azure; strong value and widely adopted.
• Tableau — excellent visualization and exploration, but often more expensive and can feel heavier.
• Looker / Looker Studio — strong if you want governed metrics and you’re in Google Cloud; Looker Studio is lighter and cheaper.
• Metabase — very approachable for non-technical users, simpler than Tableau/Power BI, good for self-serve with less complexity.
• Mode / Sigma — good for collaborative analytics with a spreadsheet-like feel.
• Qlik — powerful associative exploration, more common in larger enterprises.

If you want the shortest recommendation

• Small team / simple setup: Metabase
• Microsoft stack: Power BI
• Need best-in-class visualization: Tableau
• Need governed metrics at scale: Looker

What matters most for non-technical users

Look for:

• plain-English interfaces
• saved views and curated datasets
• no-code filters
• data definitions everyone agrees on
• fast performance
• role-based access
• good onboarding and examples

Avoid

• tools that require SQL for basic use
• overly flexible platforms without governed metrics
• dashboards with too many charts and no guidance

If you tell me your stack, budget, and whether users need dashboards vs ad hoc exploration, I can recommend the best 2–3 tools for your case.